Fertilizer-distributer.



7 0 9 1 mm C E D. D E T N E T E T U m R HT II BD R B m L I T R B PAPPLICATION FILED MAY 29. 1907.

BET 1.

3 sums-s was mamas PETERS 50., WASHINGTON, 0. c.

N0. 372 553. PATENTED DEG. s. 1907.

J. M. BISHOP. 1

FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1907.

. 3 snmwmm 2.

THE NDRRIS PETERS 00., WASHINFI'ON, n. c.

N 872553. PATENTED DE .31907.

0 J. M. BISHOP.

FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 29, 1907.

3 SHEETS-411E111 3.

JOHN M. BISHOP, OF HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA.

FERTILIZER-DISTRTBUTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 3, 1907.

Application filed May 29. 1907- Serial No. 376336- citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Huntsville, in the county of Madison and State ofAlabama, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Fertilizer-Distributers, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for distributing ordropping fertilizer or the like, and it consists in the novelconstruction and the combination of parts hereinafter described andclaimed.

One object of the invention is to provide a fertilizer distributingmechanism which may be readily attached to an ordinary plow orcultivator so that the fertilizer may be dropped in the opening orfurrow made by the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and practicalmachine or implement of this character which may be readily regulated todrop any desired quantity of fertilizer, seed or the like and which willcause the fertilizer to be mixed or seed to be covered after it isdropped.

A further object of the invention is to improve and simplify theconstruction of machines of this character and thereby render the samemore efficient and durable and less expensive.

The above and other objects are accomplished in the preferred embodimentof my invention, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a perspective view of my improved fertilizer distributer;Fig. 2 is an elevation of one side of the same, parts being broken awayand in section to more clearly illustrate the construction; Fig. 3 is avertical transverse section; Fig. 1 is a detail view of the hopper,showing its regulating gate; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the discharge shoe; Fig. 6 is a similar view of the tappet lever; and Fig. 7 isa detail view of one of the tappet fingers.

In the drawings I have shown my fertilizer dropping mechanism in theform of an attachment mounted upon a plow or cultivator comprising abeam 1 having at its rear the usual upwardly projecting handle bars 2and a depending standard 3 formed by doubling a piece of metal uponitself and bolting or otherwise securing its spaced upper ends uponopposite sides of the beam. The standard is longitudinally curved and isstrengthened by a curved brace 4, one end of which is secured to thebottom of the beam and its other end between the spaced arms or membersof the standard. A plow point or cultivator shovel 5 is secured upon thelower end of the standard by a bolt 6, as shown.

The numeral 7 denotes a hopper arranged above the rear ofthe beam andsupported in a vertical position by two substantially right angularbrackets 8 arranged upon its opposite sides. Each of said brackets hasthe lower end of its vertical portion 9 secured upon one side of thebeam 1 by a transverse bolt 10, the head 11 of which is shaped toprovide a vertically extending guide for a purpose presently explained.The horizontal arm 12 of each of the supporting brackets 8 has anoutwardly curved or bowed portion to which the hopper is bolted orotherwise secured and its rear end is bolted to one of the handle bars2, as clearly shown in the drawings. It will be seen that the brackets 8not only rigidly support the hopper but also serve. as braces for thehandle. The hopper body 7 is of inverted frusto conical form and itsopen lower end is closed by a vibratory bottom 13 which serves toagitate the material within the hopper and discharge it into a shoe 14arranged in rear of the plow or cultivator point. The bottom 13 is flatand has a surrounding flange 15 into which the lower end of the hopperprojects. The front end of the bottom is pivotally or hingedly mountedand its rear end is formed with a discharge or outlet 16. It is hingedby a U-shaped hanger 17 secured upon the front portion of its uprightflange or side wall 15 and pivotally hung in a bearing bracket 18secured to the front of the hopper. The rear portion of the bottom 13 issupported and the latter is vibrated or oscillat'ed vertically by atappet lever 19 which is pivoted at 20 upon the vertical portion 9 ofone of the brackets 8 and has its rear'end twisted and bent into rightangular form to provide a lateral arm 21 which projects transverselybeneath the hopper bottom and is adapted to engage a reinforcing wearplate 22 secured upon the bottom of the hopper. The front end of saidtappet lever is twisted and offset, as at 23, and its extremity 23 isbent into S-shape for successive engage-- ment in guides 40.

ment by tappet fingers 24 arranged in an I bolt 43 projecting from thehopper and annular row upon one face of a tappet I having upon its endan adjusting nut 44.

wheel 25.

The end 23 of the lever is guided in its vertical swinging movement by aguide bracket 26 secured upon one side of the beam 1 by a bolt 27 andsaid end of the lever is also engaged by one arm of a coil spring 28,the other arm of which is secured upon the beam. This spring tends topull the forward end of the lever downwardly and into the path of thetappet fingers 24. Each of the latter, as clearly shown in Fig. 7, isformed from a single piece of metal red by bending or doubling the sameupon itself or into substantially U-form and tapering one of its arms 29to form a spur which is driven into a wheel 25 and bending the end ofits other arm laterally to provide an attaching foot 30 which engagesone face of the wheel 25 and is apertured to receive a nail, screw orother fastening. The wheel 25 is preferably, but not necessarilyconstructed of wood and is provided with a journal 31 which projectsfrom one of its side faces and is mounted for rotation in a bearing 32secured upon the bottom of the forward por tion of the plow beam 1..

For the purpose of throwing the tappet mechanism out of operation Iprovide a lever 33 which is pivoted at 34 upon the vertical portion ofone'of the brackets 8 and has its forward or lower end bent at rightangles to form an outwardly projecting arm 35 to engage the bottom ofthe end of portion 23 of the tappet lever and raise said end out of thepath of the tappets on the wheel 25. The upper and rear end 36 of thecontrolling lever 33 is longitudinally curved and laterally offset andis formed with a hand piece arranged ad acent to one of the handles.When said controlling lever is in an inoperative po sition, that is whenits lower end 35 is lowered to permit of the free movement of the tappetlever, said handle end 36 rests upon the cross bar connecting the handlebars 2 and when the handle end 36 of said lever is swung downwardly andengaged with a keeper hook 37 on one of the handles 2 the end or arm 35will elevate the forward end of the tappet lever, as indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 2.

For the purpose of controlling or regulating the discharge of thefertilizer from the hopper 7 I provide in its rear side at its bottom avertical outlet or discharge opening 38 adapted to be controlled by asliding gate 39. The latter is in the form of a plate arranged upon theouter side of the hopper and adapted to have vertical sliding move- Itsoffset upper end is connected by links 41 to one arm of a bell crank 42,the other arm of which forms an upwardly projecting handle. This bellcrank is pivoted at its angle upon a screw stud or The coil spring 45 isarranged between said nut and the bell crank and serves to press saidbell crank against the outer side of the hopper so as to frictionallyretain it in an adjusted position in order that the sliding discharge orregulating gate 39 may be adjusted and secured to permit of the desiredamount of fertilizer to be dropped from the hopper. The discharge spoutor end 16 of the vibratory bottom 13 drops the fertilizer into theconducting tube or shoe 14 which is arranged upon and secured to therear end of the beam 1 and the handle bars 2. This shoe has a tubularlower end 46 projecting downwardly and forwardly and arrangedimmediately in rear of the plow standard 3 and a substantially U-shapedupper portion 47 arranged between the handle bars 2 and having at itslongitudinal edges flanges 48 secured to the rear edges of said handlebars. It will be seen that this arrangement of the shoe will cause thefertilizer to be dropped in the furrow made by the plow point or shovel5, and in order to cover the fertilizer thus dropped, I provide a mixingfoot or shovel 49 preferably formed integral with one end of alongitudinally curved resilient bar 50 which is arranged upon one sideof the beam 1 and has its forward end secured by the hook shaped head 51of the bolt 27 or in any other suitable manner. This. resilient bar 50projects through and is adapted to swing in the vertical guide loop 11formed by the head of the bolt 10, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The construction, operation and advantages of the invention will bereadily under stood from the foregoing description taken in connectionwith the drawings. It will be seen that when the machine is drawnforwardly by a draft animal or animals hitched to the front end of thebeam 1 the ta-ppet wheel 25 will be rotated and its fingers 24 willoscillate the tappet lever which latter will in turn oscillate orvibrate the discharge bottom 13 of the hopper. This movement of thebottom causes the contents of the hopper to work beneath the controllinggate 39 and out of the discharge end 16 from which it drops into theshoe 14 and then upon the ground in the furrow made by the plow. Theamount of fertilizer dropped may be readily regulated by adjusting thebell crank 42 and by operating the controlling lever 33 the tappetdevice may be quickly thrown out of o aeration.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. A fertilizer distributer comprising a beam, handlesthereon, a standard depending from said beam, a discharge shoe arrangedat the rear of the standard, angular brackets connecting said beam andhandles, a hopper supported in said brackets above the rear portion ofthe beam, a vibratory bottom for the hopper pivoted at its forward endto the same and having at its rear end an outlet to discharge fertilizerinto the shoe, a

tappet wheel journaled upon the forward portion of the beam, a tappetlever pivoted upon one of said brackets and having one end shaped toengage the bottom of the hopper and its other end shaped to engage thetappets on said wheel, and a controlling lever ivoted intermediate itsends upon one of said brackets and having one of its ends projectingrearwardly to provide a handle and its other end bent angularly andengaged with the forward end of the tappet lever to elevate the same toan inoperative position, substantially as described.

2. A fertilizer distributor comprising a beam, a hopper arranged at therear portion of the same, a vibratory bottom for said hopper, a tappetwheel uponthe forward ortion of the beam and provided with latera yprojecting tappets, a tappet lever pivoted intermediate its ends andhaving its rear end bent inwardly to engage the under face of saidhopper bottom and its forward end shaped to engage said tappets, aspring for actuating the tappet lever to hold its forward end inengagement with the tappets and a controlling lever pivoted intermediateits ends and having one of its ends projecting rearwardly to provide ahandle and its other,

end projecting forwardly and bent angularly to take under the front endof the tappet lever to raise the same to an ino erative position,substantially as described? 3. A fertilizer distributor comprising abeam, handles thereon, a standard upon said beam, a shoe having adischarge arranged in rear of said standard, angular brackets havingtheir lower ends secured to the beam and their upper or rear endssecured to the handles, a hopper secured to and supported between saidbrackets, a vibratory discharge bottom for said hopper, a tappet wheel,a tappet lever pivoted intermediate its ends upon one of said bracketsand having at its rear end a laterally projecting arm to engage andsupport said discharge bottom and its forward end shaped to engage thetappets on said wheel, a spring for actuating said tappet lever, acontrolling lever for moving said tappet lever to an inoperativeposition, a controlling gate for regulating the discharge of thecontents of the hopper, and a resilient bar or rod carried 'by the beamand having a mixing point or shovel to travel in rear of the dischargeend of said shoe, substantially as described.

4. In a fertilizer distributer, a beam, a standard carrying a plow pointor shovel, a fertilizer discharge shoe arranged in rear of said beam, avertically extending guide ar- 'stud and a coil spring ranged upon oneside of said beam, and a resilient rod or bar arrangedhorizontally uponone side of the beam and extending through said guide for verticalmovement therein,

the front end of said rod or bar being fixed to the beam and the rearend of the same being curved downwardly and terminatin in a *9 coveringand mixing shovel arranged in rear of said shoe,

substantially as described.

5. In a fertilizer distributer, a beam,

handles thereon, a hopper supported above the rear portion of the beamin front of said handles and formed with an open lower end and adischarge opening in its rear side, a gate on the rear side of saidhopper to control said discharge opening, a hook upon the front side ofthe hopper, a vibratory bottom for the hopper provided with an upwarextending flange to receive the lower end of the hopper, the rearportion of said bottom and its flange being arranged to provide adischarge spout, a 100 or bail arranged upon the front portion of t eflange of the bottom and engaged with the hook on the hopper topivotally suspend said bottom, a wear plate arranged upon tom and apivoted tappet lever adapted to engage said wear plate to vibrate saidbottom, substantially as described. 6. In a fertilizer distributer, ahopper havmg an open lower end and an outlet opening formed in its sideat said end, a flanged vibratory bottom to receive the lower end of thehopper, guides arranged upon the opposite side edges of the outletopening in the hopper, a sliding gate arranged in said guides to controlsaid opening, a screw stud projectingfrom the hopper, a bell crankpivoted upon the screw stud and having one arm projecting upwardly toprovide a handle, a link connecting the other arm of the bell crank tothe upper end of the gate, an adjusting nut upon the outer end of thescrew arranged upon said stud between the nut and the bell crank andadapted to force the latter into frictional engagement with the hopperto retain said gate in an adjusted position, substantially as described.

7. In a fertilizer distributer the combination with a tappet lever foroperating its dropping mechanism, of a tappet wheel and tappets uponsaid wheels each of said tappets being formed by a rod bent upon itselfto provide a substantially U-shape portion having one arm straight andpointed to form a spur and its other arm bent at right angles and formedwith an aperture to receive a fastening, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN M. BISHOP.

Witnesses:

J. H. MOANELLY, JNo. RIRoN JoNEs.

dly'

the under face of said bot-

